CELTIC great Pat Bonner reckons Fraser Forster could be prepared to accept a massive drop in wages in order to make his Parkhead move permanent after rediscovering his love of football in Glasgow.

Southampton keeper Forster has been exceptional for Neil Lennon’s side both domestically and in Europe since agreeing a season-long loan deal with the Scottish champions back in August.

The 31-year-old had fallen out of favour at the St Mary’s Stadium before returning to this country and had made just one first team appearance in 20 months.

The six-times capped England internationalist, who Celtic sold for £10 million in 2014, reportedly earns £70,000-a-week at the Premier League club.

That is far more than the highest earner at the treble treble winners picks up and Lennon has admitted they might not be able to sign the hero of their Betfred Cup final win over Rangers and successful Europa League campaign.

Former Celtic and Republic of Ireland goalie Bonner, though, believes that Forster may be willing to accept a sizeable salary cut in order to remain in the East End.

“I think it’s very important that he enjoys being at Celtic,” said Bonner. “He feels that people respect him and value him.

“The grass is not always greener somewhere else. Now, of course, Fraser is on big money with Southampton. It’s incredible the money players get down south and it’s hard to know if Celtic could even afford to take him for half his money.

“Possibly not. But he seems to be happy at Celtic. He’s made his money. Is this the place for him to spend the rest of his career? To finish his playing days at a club which he enjoys?”

Bonner, who now covers Celtic games in his role as a BBC Scotland pundit, has been impressed by the understanding Forster has developed with his centre backs Kristoffer Ajer and Christopher Jullien and with their determination to keep clean sheets.

“The reaction of Christopher Jullien, Kristoffer Ajer and Forster at the full-time whistle in the game against Hearts last midweek was very interesting for me,” he said.

“Celtic coasted to the win in the end, but they clenched fists at full-time. It showed me that they take pride in keeping the ball out of the net.

“Of course, you have to be good in other parts of the game as defenders, but the two centre-backs looks as if they enjoy defending.

“Ajer is a young man and he can get caught up in things. He needs to calm down a bit, but Jullien is there and he looks a real defender.

“The reaction to the clean sheet at the full-time whistle is what I like to see and the first thing I look for after a game. You could see the passion in them to defend the goal and get a shut out. I also look at how they react when they lose a goal and they are.

“Fraser went through a real spell the last time he was at Celtic when he set a record for minutes without losing a goal. That’s the type of thing he has in his memory and he wants these things more.”

Bonner believes that Forster is an even better player than he was during his first spell at Parkhead - when he set a top flight record of 1,256 minutes without conceding a goal.

“Fraser makes the big saves,” he said. “I talked with Neil in the past about what does he want as a goalkeeper and he likes a big and imposing guy. Fraser is an immense presence. He doesn’t come out for many crosses given his size, but I think he has really improved his work with his feet.

“Since he’s been down in England, he seems to have learned and got better with that, even if he’s never going to be brilliant at it. But he makes the big saves at the big times and I admit he’s actually done even better than I thought he would since coming back.

“When he signed for Celtic the first time around, he was a big goalkeeper, but seemed a little bit sluggish and slow. He seemed to do a lot of work on his speed and movement and he turned out to be very good.

“Having been away from Celtic for such a long time and missed a lot of football during the latter stages of his time at Southampton, I wondered if he might have lost a bit of that speed with his lay offs.

“But he’s still got it and that’s the critical factor for him because he is such a big guy. Yes he’s tall, but that’s not enough for a keeper, you need momentum and quickness. All of that stuff is part of the package.”